A BMS, or Battery Management System is a device or multiple devices that control some or all aspects of an advanced energy storage system. Some aspects that may be controlled include monitoring voltages of each cell or groups of energy storage cells, monitoring current, monitoring temperatures throughout energy storage units(s), calculating States of Charge (SoC), calculating and/or tracking States of Health (SoH), and/or modifying State of Charge to balance the storage unit voltages or SoC's.
A BMS may be used in any number of applications ranging anywhere from vehicles to cell phones to laptops to large stationary grid balancing plants. A BMS will typically be used on an advanced battery system consisting of many cells connected in a series/parallel configuration, although occasionally a BMS may be used on a less advanced battery system that needs a longer lifespan from the batteries such as in a vehicle application or an ultracapacitor system requiring precise control over its cell voltages and SoC's.
The Battery Management System in any system may report information about the system back to a central computer or control aspects of the battery system itself. Much of the function of a BMS will be determined at the design stage of a particular implementation, however it will always be used to collect data about the battery system and calculate important parameters, then either transmit or use that data to adjust aspects of the energy storage system.
What is needed is an improved battery management system to better balance and manage cells.